Shareholders' equity - Earnings Per Share (Basic and Diluted) (Detail) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 28, 2014	Dec. 29, 2013
Earnings Per Share [Abstract]
Income from continuing operations attributable to TEGNA Inc.	$ 357,458	$ 687,936	$ 41,463
Income from discontinued operations, net of tax	102,064	374,235	347,217
Net income attributable to TEGNA Inc.	$ 459,522	$ 1,062,171	$ 388,680
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding - basic	224,688	226,292	228,541
Effect of dilutive securities
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding - diluted	229,721	231,907	234,189
Earnings from continuing operations per share - basic (in dollars per share)	$ 1.59	$ 3.04	$ 0.18
Earnings from discontinued operations per share - basic (in dollars per share)	0.45	1.65	1.52
Net income per share - basic (in dollars per share)	2.04	4.69	1.70
Earnings from continuing operations per share - diluted (in dollars per share)	1.56	2.97	0.18
Earnings from discontinued operations per share - diluted (in dollars per share)	0.44	1.61	1.48
Net income per share - diluted (in dollars per share)	$ 2.00	$ 4.58	$ 1.66
Restricted Stock
Effect of dilutive securities
Effect of dilutive securities (in shares)	2,236	2,624	2,839
Performance Shares
Effect of dilutive securities
Effect of dilutive securities (in shares)	1,867	1,999	1,649
Stock Options
Effect of dilutive securities
Effect of dilutive securities (in shares)	930	992	1,160